Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca made seven changes to his starting lineup for Wednesday’s Champions League away game at Qarabag.
Out went Trevoh Chalobah, Malo Gusto, Wesley Fofana, Pedro Neto, Enzo Fernandez, Moises Caicedo and Alejandro Garnacho, with Tosin Adarabioyo, Jorrel Hato, Jamie Gittens, Andrey Santos, Estevao Willian, Romeo Lavia and Tyrique George coming in.
The result was a disjointed performance and two dropped points against a side that finished dead last in the league phase of last season’s Europa League.
In total, Maresca has now made 85 changes to his starting XI across all competitions this season — 16 more than any other Premier League manager.
Most changes made to starting XIs by Premier League clubs this season (all competitions)
- 1. Chelsea — 85 changes
- 2. Liverpool — 69 changes
- 3. Arsenal — 67 changes
- =4. Brentford — 66 changes
- =4. Fulham — 66 changes
Maresca has named an unchanged starting XI only once this season — against Fulham in August, when he stuck with the team that had started in a 5–1 win away at West Ham eight days earlier.
He has made at least seven changes on seven occasions.
Number of changes Enzo Maresca has made to Chelsea starting XI game by game
| Date | Fixture | Changes to XI |
|---|---|---|
| 17 Aug 2025 | Chelsea 0–0 C Palace (Premier League) | n/a |
| 22 Aug 2025 | West Ham 1–5 Chelsea (Premier League) | 4 |
| 30 Aug 2025 | Chelsea 2–0 Fulham (Premier League) | 0 |
| 13 Sep 2025 | Brentford 2–2 Chelsea (Premier League) | 4 |
| 17 Sep 2025 | Bayern 3–1 Chelsea (Champions League) | 4 |
| 20 Sep 2025 | Man United 2–1 Chelsea (Premier League) | 2 |
| 23 Sep 2025 | Lincoln 1–2 Chelsea (Carabao Cup) | 8 |
| 27 Sep 2025 | Chelsea 1–3 Brighton (Premier League) | 7 |
| 30 Sep 2025 | Chelsea 1–0 Benfica (Champions League) | 5 |
| 04 Oct 2025 | Chelsea 2–1 Liverpool (Premier League) | 3 |
| 18 Oct 2025 | N Forest 0–3 Chelsea (Premier League) | 3 |
| 22 Oct 2025 | Chelsea 5–1 Ajax (Champions League) | 10 |
| 25 Oct 2025 | Chelsea 1–2 Sunderland (Premier League) | 8 |
| 29 Oct 2025 | Wolves 3–4 Chelsea (Carabao Cup) | 10 |
| 01 Nov 2025 | Tottenham 0–1 Chelsea (Premier League) | 10 |
| 05 Nov 2025 | Qarabag 2–2 Chelsea (Champions League) | 7 |
Chelsea’s huge squad
Chelsea have the lowest average age of any Premier League team this season when it comes to their starting XIs.
The Blues also have the biggest pool of players to choose from due to their high number of young stars, with Premier League rules allowing players aged 21 and younger to be selected even if not named in a club’s 25-man squad.
Chelsea have fielded 25 different players in their opening 10 Premier League matches this season. No Premier League club has used more players than the Blues, with Everton using just 19, and Tottenham and Manchester United using 20 each.
Fans annoyed with “Tinkerman II” Enzo Maresca over constant rotation
Many Chelsea fans have expressed their frustration at Enzo Maresca continuously changing his lineup this season. Some have dubbed him the “Tinkerman II” — a reference to former manager Claudio Ranieri, who became infamous for changing his team around between 2000 and 2004.
In the aftermath of Wednesday’s draw with Qarabag, one Blues fan wrote on X: “It’s all because of Maresca’s stupidity with rotations. Name me one big team who make about six or seven changes in a UCL game.”
Another fan hit out at Maresca’s “naive understanding of squad rotation”, adding: “You can’t survive those many changes every game.”
A third Chelsea fan declared: “Maresca thinks the Champions League is the Conference League. You can’t keep on making 10 changes every midweek game. I hope he has learnt his lesson tonight.”
Why rotation worked for Enzo Maresca last season
Last season, Maresca’s rotation policy paid off. Competing in the Europa Conference League, Chelsea were able to field their fringe players regularly against lower-quality opposition — and still go on to win the tournament.
That approach allowed Maresca to prioritise Premier League matches and keep his key players fresh, ultimately helping the club secure a top-four finish and a return to the Champions League.
But this season, things are different. The Champions League brings tougher opponents and a far more intense schedule, exposing the risks of constant chopping and changing.
Enzo Maresca has made 85 changes to his starting XIs this season — more than any other Premier League manager
Fitness and fixture congestion
To Maresca’s credit, there are genuine mitigating factors. Chelsea endured a 13-month campaign last season due to their involvement in the expanded Club World Cup, which cut pre-season to less than two weeks.
Several key players — including Enzo Fernandez, Moises Caicedo and Alejandro Garnacho — have been carefully managed after heavy workloads. Cole Palmer and Levi Colwill remain injured, while Romeo Lavia’s repeated setbacks have made squad rotation trickier to balance.
What Enzo Maresca said about squad rotation
Speaking at a press conference after Wednesday’s 2–2 draw in Baku, Maresca dismissed suggestions that squad rotation was to blame for Chelsea dropping Champions League points.
“When we make changes the intention is always because we think the plan with the players that start the game is the correct one,” he told reporters.
“I don’t have the feeling that tonight’s result is about rotating players. We started well, scored the goal, and then conceded two goals that we could avoid. For me the big difference was inside the box — especially inside our box.
“And in theirs, for the amount of times that we arrived there, probably we need to be a little bit more clinical.”
Is “Tinkerman II” struggling to balance it all?
Even sympathetic observers admit that Maresca’s heavy rotation may be counter-productive in Europe’s top competition.
Unlike last season, Chelsea can’t rely on squad depth to overpower weaker sides. The Champions League demands rhythm, chemistry and consistency — qualities that can’t develop when the starting XI changes every few days.
Chelsea currently sit 12th on the Champions League ladder, with Barcelona, Atalanta and Napoli among their remaining opponents in the league phase.
That Barcelona match comes just five days before Chelsea face leaders Arsenal in the Premier League. Too much tinkering during that period could be very dangerous.
But despite the recent criticism about his ever-changing team selection, Maresca’s world champions are not doing too badly overall.
While Chelsea don’t look like Premier League title contenders just yet, they remain in contention in Europe and the Carabao Cup. They also sit just two points off second place in the Premier League.
Perhaps Maresca just needs time to find the right balance between rotation and consistency. The original Tinkerman remains the longest-serving Chelsea manager in Premier League history, having spent 1,351 days in the Stamford Bridge hot seat.
That was an impressive stint considering Chelsea are famously the least patient Premier League club with their managers. If the Tinkerman II is given as much time as Ranieri was, he will surely crack the rotation conundrum.
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